I. -nt adjective
Etymology: Late Latin recalcitrant-, recalcitrans, from present participle of recalcitrare to be stubbornly disobedient, from Latin, to kick back, from re- + calcitrare to kick, from calc-, calx heel — more at calk
1. : obstinately defiant of authority or restraint : stubbornly disobedient
recalcitrant and dangerous heretics and obstructionists — G.L.Kline
a recalcitrant child
call forth the forces of the Union to coerce recalcitrant states — S.E.Morison & H.S.Commager
2.
a. : difficult or impossible to handle or operate : unmanageable
the materials in these fields are more complex and more recalcitrant than the simpler and more readily measurable phenomena of the languages — Mortimer Graves
the car had a recalcitrant gearshift lever — M.M.Musselman
b. : not responsive to treatment
many of these patients were suffering from recalcitrant forms of the disease — Journal American Medical Association
c. : resistant — usually used with to
this subject is recalcitrant both to observation and to experiment — G.G.Simpson
nothing perhaps is more recalcitrant to logical systematization than local custom — G.H.Sabine
Synonyms: see unruly
II. noun
( -s )
: one who is recalcitrant